It seems that folks in Albany really don’t get it. Communities large and small are struggling under the crushing burden of state unfunded mandates. Unfunded mandates are those programs and policies the state imposes on our local governments and schools, but refuses to pay for. So our counties and municipalities are strapped with programs our residents neither want nor can afford.

The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) made it pretty clear – nearly 90 percent of the local tax levy is consumed by just nine unfunded state mandates. And that’s just the beginning; there are hundreds of other mandates that consume time and public resources.

Unfunded mandates have caused the rampant growth of property taxes and the stagnation of our communities. When so much of our local budgets are predetermined by wasteful state mandated programs, what is left to invest in things a community really needs, such as economic development and community renewal?

The governor implied during his ‘tax relief’ announcement earlier this year, that the Medicaid cost-growth takeover was ‘enough’ mandate relief in his opinion. I haven’t seen any mandate relief included in his state of the state agenda, let alone his budget proposal. The governor is making it very clear – mandate relief is not a priority of his.

Fortunately, my Assembly Minority colleagues and I sponsored the ‘Taxpayer Protection and Mandate Relief Act.’ As one of its sponsors, I wanted to make sure we cap state spending and place a three-year moratorium on new, unfunded mandates, among other things. This, however, was shot down by the Assembly Majority on the Local Governments Committee.

You have a few camps: those who deny unfunded mandates are even a problem, then there are the folks who want to talk about it to death and do nothing about it, and then there is us. It seems as if my minority colleagues and I are the only ones fighting for your tax relief and the unburdening of our local communities.

We are ready to act. Where is the rest of Albany? Seemingly, they are in a stupor of denial and inaction.

Months go by quickly in Albany; and soon enough, the legislature will adjourn and congratulate itself on another year of failed policy and service to New York’s taxpayers. I, however, will be using every moment to continue fighting for tax and unfunded mandate relief.